This time around, the contest in Mylapore promises to be interesting, largely due to the presence of Lok Paritran contesting this seat. Lok Paritran is expected to recover their deposit in this seat, in all other constituencies they are expected to lose their deposit, in spite of the tremendous media coverage they have recieved.(more…)

“Veyil thaanga mudiyalai” (Rough equivalent of “It is exteremly hot this summer”) is the Numero Uno quote in Chennai.

There is a common tendency among people. They tend to feel that the current summer is hotter than the previous one. However, that isn’t a tendency anymore. It is not even May, the hottest month of the year, yet. It is not even days of the “Fire-Star” (Agni Nakshatram/Kathiri Veyil for the loyal Madras resident)yet. It’s wicked hot already. Summer is characterized not only is the heat and humidity but also by power-cuts. To add more misery, these power-cuts have become an every night occurence lasting upto three hours. What more, middle-aged women take yet another opportunity to rant on “how children can’t study for their exams”, or “how can people be expected to work the next day if they can’t get a good night’s sleep” while warding off those huge, humming mosquitoes (it’s spring time for them too, see?). For the solitude preferring types, it’s a great season, because relatives from other parts of the world will not willingly choose a summer vacation in Chennai and hence relief from pesky, nagging children.

Small mercies include air-conditioned theatres and several films opening every week.

Now, why is this on the Chennai Metroblog? Abhisek Kumarasubramanian, who just gave my long name some competition, is from Chennai. And Abhishek did quite well. To quote

Though it was incredibly close, last year’s winner, Ardian Kristanto Poernomo, from Indonesia, snagged the grand prize once again. Abishek Kumarasubramanian from Chennai, India was less than 3/100ths of a point behind him.

Whilst DMK and ADMK are thinking hard about the Vijayakanth factor, Dinamalar has shed its concentration on the other silently brewing issue. TNPCEE – a Hero of the yesteryears and a death-victim of this year, is back in action this May.

Students this year have faced numerous entrance exams already.. and they are all facing TNPCEE by default. I pity this year +2 students. The Syllabus was changed. Im aware of a few teachers who werent capable enough to handle the subjects this year. Physics exams were really tough this time. And after crossing all this, they are still in a confusion of their higher education.

It was money that had played in Education, all along. This time it is politics.

On Saturday, I had to go to Mount Road for some shopping. The first stop was Victoria Technical Institute or VTI as it is popularly known. I have been going to this craft mecca for as long as I can remember. Every time my relatives would come from Calcutta, they would head to this place to shop for presents, craft items, statues, mirrors etc. On Saturday, I went to get a gift for a friend who was leaving town. And I found just the right things: a bamboo box and a lipstick holder in leather made in the Shantinikentan style. I also found a red basket bag for a throwaway price! I couldn’t resist it. And to think that I had actually gone in for a gift and a pair of napkins!(more…)

Sathyam Cineplex is becoming the most organized theatres, atleast in Chennai. Their web-site, www.thecinema.in which claims “The Queue is Dead” now has an additional feature (of course for an additional price).

You can select your seats. I have seen this in Adlabs – Mumbai. They ask your preference of seating, while booking the tickets. Now you can do that in Sathyam, through www.thecinema.in . Additional Rs.10 is charged for this.

She needs no introduction. After all she is one of the most recognised faces in Kollywood. Her latest appearance in a stage show left many people shocked at her post-baby figure but I think we all can agree that Simran still remains a queen of hearts! To be honest, I haven’t seen any of her Tamizh movies but yes I do remember from Tere Mere Sapne.

Kingfisher Airlines will operate a daily direct flight between Chennai and Mangalore from May 1. According to this report:

The daily flight IT 2441 will depart Bangalore at 9-40 am and arrive in Mangalore at 10-45 am. Flight 2443 to Chennai direct will depart from Mangalore at 11-15 am and arrive at Chennai at 1 am.

Flight 2444 from Chennai to Mangalore will depart at 1-30 pm and land in Mangalore at 3-15 pm. Flight 2442 from Mangalore to Bangalore will depart at 5-05 pm and reach Bangalore at 6-10 hrs. This late evening flight to Bangalore will be convenient a lot of professionals and businesspersons.

So far, a journey to Mangalore has been a time consuming process. If you take the train, patience runs real slim when you realize that after an early evening boarding, all you’ve managed to achieve is a long stop at Kasergod the next morning. The prospect of several more hours of chugging is never pleasing when you are trying to squeeze the maximum out of a three day trip (sounds alarmingly like a rant, doesn’t it? you bet!) It will be interesting to see the ticket pricing that Kingfisher will set for this sector.